The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee AhdiehMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I picked up this Arabian Nights retelling with most of my Arabian Nights knowledge being my many viewings of Disney's Aladdin when I was a kid. I do, at least, know the general framing device - a princess telling stories to her husband every night to stave off the death that's befallen all his previous wives, and deliberately not giving him the ending, so he'll have to keep her alive to know what happens next...
Curiously, this book focuses less on the storytelling aspect, as it's a little more character-driven. Shahrzad doesn't just marry the boy-king Khalid - she wants to kill him because he killed her best friend. Meanwhile, Tariq, a young man who likes Shahrzad, worries that she might be experiencing Stockholm Syndrome (which, of course, it wouldn't be called.) And then the twists start making themselves known - because you know there's going to be twists, and you want them to come, and you can't decide which character you root for the most. (I'm going with Tariq, though, for his sense of humor. "Aging camel," anyone?)
I hope I can pick up the sequel to this book soon...and in the meantime, I'm adding Renee Ahdieh to my "must get this author's newest books ASAP" list.
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